UN: Inaction on Syria is not an option

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Ahead of an urgent declaration being issued today by more than 200 civil society groups from around the world, urging the UN General Assembly to take action regarding the war in Syria, Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office, said:

“It is becoming clearer every day that the UN Security Council has failed the Syrian people. There have been almost half a million deaths, and each one is a stark rebuke of the Security Council, the supposed guardian of international peace and security, which has allowed a political deadlock to stand in the way of saving lives.

“This is why we, along with 224 civil society organizations, are urgently calling on UN member states to take action and request an Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly to demand an end to all unlawful attacks in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria. They must call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach all those in need.

“UN member states can and should use all the diplomatic tools at their disposal to take action towards ending the atrocities in Syria – the inaction we have seen over the past five years is a shameful chapter in the history of the Security Council.”

Note to editors: A press conference will take place on Thursday 1 December at 11:15 am EST (16:15 GMT) in the UNCA room on the third floor of the UN Secretariat Building in New York.

Among those who will speaking to reporters and available for questions will be representatives of Amnesty International, CARE International, the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights Watch, PAX, Physicians for Human Rights and World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy.